Two wrestlers go head to head in ‘Reign After Queendom’, an event organised by EVE - Riot Grrrls of Wrestling.
Guy Corbishley/Alamy
The sport has seen a revival in recent years. But it will take regulation to remove its reputation as a low-brow form of entertainment
TV and movies are one way we understand people and places we’ve never had direct contact with – and maybe never will.
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An Italian media scholar raised on American TV assesses Netflix’s ambitious strategy to create original productions in Italy, Japan, Brazil and beyond – and distribute them globally.
Children watching an old Hindi film at a video centre in Tamale in Ghana in 2016.
Katie Young
Depictions of Indian life in cinema and soap operas have found particular affinity with communities in Northern Ghana.
Disney+ show WandaVision is being released in instalments rather than in one go.
Disney Media
Audiences have a growing appetite for slow weekly released TV.
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Instead of feeling ashamed about our guilty pleasures, it is time to understand how they really work
Nigerian director Kunle Afolayan speaks with passengers aboard a flight during the premiere of his film, The CEO.
Florian Placheur/AFP/Getty
In Lagos, cinema audiences don’t go to the movies for the film alone. There’s more.
Host of popular true crime podcast Serial, American journalist Sarah Koenig.
Penn State/Flikr
Penny dreadfuls told real stories of murder and mayhem to 19th-century audiences seeking escape from city life. True crime podcasts have a lot in common with them.
Elvis Presley received a polio vaccination on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956.
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‘Sensible’ public figures have far less influence on our behaviour than it seems
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The way this genre represents police is just the tip of the iceberg.
Many films that address race end up lulling audiences into complacency.
TriStar Pictures
Books, movies and records that seem to challenge racism also subtly advance the idea that progress shouldn’t happen too quickly.
EPA/JOHN TAGGART/BLOOMBERG/POOL
From wrestlers to movie stars, celebrities have risen to some of the highest political offices around the world. What makes them so appealing?
K-pop band BTS and their company, Big Hit, have donated money to Black Lives Matter. Most bands and companies in the industry have not made any sort of statements.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Few of those in the K-pop industry have donated or even spoken out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
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There are more than 101 ways to immerse yourself in a foreign place, without having to leave your living room.
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Between home and work is a window of time and space where we can choose our distractions. Staring out the train window, scrolling the news or perhaps listening to podcasts. We miss it.
Crucible is the first release from Amazon’s games studio Relentless.
Relentless Game Studios
Surely, it can’t be fun to watch others play games you can play yourself? The hundreds of hours people spend on live-streaming platform Twitch would suggest otherwise.
A mural of Cardi B updated by the artist Colton Valentine to include a face mask in San Antonio. Cardi B’s instagram post, ‘Shit is getting real’ went viral.
(AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Now that we know what essential work is, it seems the perfect time to reflect upon the not-so-essential work of celebrities.
TV shows are going out without audiences but some are finding novel ways to include participation.
PxFuel
Shows are being broadcast to empty studios but audiences are fundamental to the quality of entertainment.
Thanks to algorithms, outrage often snowballs.
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Algorithmic forces fuel cancel culture. Paradoxically, they’re also used to rehabilitate those who have been canceled.
Political fissures extend to the TV screen.
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The programs that Americans of all political stripes like to watch seem to be united by a common theme.
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Climate change is mentioned in British television about as often as zombies.